1 Maccabees 14:4-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Eulogy of Simon
4 The land[a] had rest all the days of Simon.
He sought the good of his nation;
his rule was pleasing to them,
as was the honor shown him all his days.(A)
5 To crown all his honors he took Joppa for a harbor
and opened a way to the isles of the sea.(B)
6 He extended the borders of his nation
and gained full control of the country.
7 He gathered a host of captives;
he ruled over Gazara and Beth-zur and the citadel,
and he removed its uncleanness from it,
and there was none to oppose him.(C)
8 They tilled their land in peace;
the ground gave its increase
and the trees of the plains their fruit.(D)
9 Old men sat in the streets;
they all talked together of good things,
and the youths put on splendid military attire.
10 He supplied the towns with food
and furnished them with the means of defense,
until his renown spread to the ends of the earth.(E)
11 He established peace in the land,
and Israel rejoiced with great joy.
12 All the people sat under their own vines and fig trees,
and there was none to make them afraid.(F)
13 No one was left in the land to fight them,
and the kings were crushed in those days.
14 He gave help to all the humble among his people;
he sought out the law
and did away with all the renegades and outlaws.
15 He made the sanctuary glorious
and added to the vessels of the sanctuary.
Diplomacy with Rome and Sparta
16 It was heard in Rome and as far away as Sparta that Jonathan had died, and they were deeply grieved.(G) 17 When they heard that his brother Simon had become high priest in his stead and that he was ruling over the country and the towns in it,(H) 18 they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance that they had established with his brothers Judas and Jonathan.(I)
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- 14.4 Other ancient authorities add of Judah
1 Maccabees 14:35-43
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
35 “The people saw Simon’s faithfulness[a] and the glory that he had resolved to win for his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest because he had done all these things and because of the justice and loyalty that he had maintained toward his nation. He sought in every way to exalt his people.(A) 36 In his days things prospered in his hands, so that the nations were put out of the[b] country, as were also those in the city of David in Jerusalem, who had built themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth and defile the environs of the sanctuary, doing great damage to its purity.(B) 37 He settled Jews in it and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city and built the walls of Jerusalem higher.(C)
38 “In view of these things King Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood,(D) 39 made him one of his Friends, and paid him high honors.(E) 40 For he had heard that the Jews were addressed by the Romans as friends and allies and brothers and that the Romans[c] had received the envoys of Simon with honor.(F)
41 “The Jews and their priests have resolved that Simon should be their leader and high priest forever, until a trustworthy prophet should arise,(G) 42 and that he should be governor over them and[d] appoint officials over its tasks and over the country and the weapons and the strongholds, 43 and that he should take charge of the sanctuary, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all contracts in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple and wear gold.(H)
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